The present invention relates to motorized fishing devices which attach to fishing lines to feed the line out in the water to remote or other locations while the user remains on shore or in a boat. The prior art is filled with various such devices which typically include a body having a motor which drives a propeller. The fishing line is attached either to the motorized body or to the fishing line in the region of the motorized body to be propelled out into the water by the motorized body. Examples of such devices appear in U.S. Pats. No. 1,446,816 Taylor et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,850,296 Vermeulen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,475 Sparkman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,047 Lumsden, U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,316 McCabe, U.S. Pat. No. 2,726,471 Uus, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,131 Myers. Some of the aforementioned patented devices are provided with a motorized body which is floatable, see for example, McCabe U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,316, while others are provided with special keels to stabilize the motorized body, see for example, Vermeulen U.S. Pat. No. 1,850,296 and Lunsden U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,047. In other devices, the motorized device is positioned on the fishing line downstream from a float such as a bobber, see for example, Taylor et al U.S. Pat. No. 1,446,816 and Sparkman U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,475.
In all such devices, however, the fishing line is fixedly attached to the motorized body which results in loss of sensitivity to the fish when a fish is being played while adding extra weight to the line during the play. Fixing the line directly to the motorized body also hinders the ability to hook the fish. In addition, the constant fixation of the line to the motorized device also prevents the fisherman from changing the depth of the tackle while the device is out in the water thus requiring the line and device to be reeled in to the fisherman in order to effect such change.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,803,914 to Ellis discloses a motorized body for carrying out a fishing line to a desired location in the water, whereupon the body is disengaged from the fishing line and returned to the fisherman. Once the fishing line is disengaged from the motorized device, it is no longer possible to relocate the fishing tackle to other areas in the water through the use of the motorized body unless, of course, the fishing line is reeled in to shore to be reconnected to the motorized device which must then be set out in the water to the new location. The Ellis apparatus is further complicated by requiring an extra line, that is, in addition to the fishing line, to reel out the motorized body and fishing line. In some of the other patented devices cited above, extra lines are utilized to deenergize the motor, thereby further complicating the apparatus as well as the fishing operation in general, see for example, Vermeulen U.S. Pat. No. 1,850,296, Lumsden U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,047 and McCabe U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,316.